Making of a face: Role of facial physiognomy, skin tone, and color presentation mode in evaluations of racial typicality

Participants (N = 59) performed racial typicality ratings and racial categorization of affectively neutral faces. The authors manipulated facial physiognomy, skin tone, and color presentation mode (gray scale vs. color) independently. Participants perceived Eurocentric faces as more European American in the gray-scale presentation mode than in the color mode. Independent of facial physiognomy, the planned effect of skin tone also emerged: Participants perceived dark skin tone faces as more African American than they did light skin tone faces, but this tendency was especially true with faces presented in color. These findings suggest that color presentation mode plays an important role in altering the perceptions of faces on dimensions critical to the study of stereotyping and prejudice. The common use of gray-scale stimuli may exaggerate physiognomy-based perceptions of racial typicality and category membership, but it may diminish skin-tone-based perceptions in comparison with more realistic color presentations.